Document 6435294

Aims: To encourage the use of phrases which express attitude and emotion in a factual letter.
Time: One hour, with extended language work and homework.
Target Language: Phrases which express attitude and emotion
Phrases of place and direction
Collocations connected to road safety
Materials:
Warm up exercise (diagram from Dangerous Road – see Lesson Step 1)
Dangerous Road
Jumbled Letter
Language Analysis
Language Extension
Writing Practice
Answer Key
Teacher’s Notes and Lesson Steps:
1. As a warm up exercise, start the lesson with one student describing the diagram on Dangerous
Road and their partner trying to draw it. (Fold the handout over so you can’t see the vocabulary
exercise). This is a fun start, which will aid comprehension in Step 4. Alternatively, describe the
diagram yourself for all to draw. Check for differences.
2. Hand out Dangerous Road and complete the vocabulary exercise.
3. Explain that all the phrases come from a letter. Ask students in pairs to decide who wrote the
letter, to whom and about what.
(A mother of two small children, to the Road and Safety Department of the Local Council,
complaining about a dangerous stretch of road, near where she lives.)
4. Hand out the Jumbled Letter and allow time to fill in the gaps with the vocabulary from Step 2.
Monitor and, when individuals are ready, hand out Language Analysis (the first instruction being to
order the sentences).
Monitor and check as they work through it. Students may want to pair up to compare answers as
they finish.
5. The Language Extension exercise is optional and can be done individually, or, to change the
pace, as a class. Make it into a game by providing teams with counters to place in the right
‘emotion box’ for each phrase, as they are revealed on an OHP/read out (keep the counter for
correct answers etc.).
6. Consolidate Step 5 by completing the sentences with the correct phrase.
7. Hand out Writing Practice for homework.
 Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2003
Taken from the Writing Skills section in www.onestopenglish.com
Diagram: Dangerous Road
The
Marsh
Retirement
flats
School
South Street
Cars
Cars
Path of
school
children
Gift Shop
E
N
Johnston’s
Place
Match words from each column to make a phrase related to road safety.
swift
stretch
40 to 60
zebra
poor
number
flow
narrow
serious
volume of
car
speed
traffic
nearby
 Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2003
Taken from the Writing Skills section in www.onestopenglish.com
crossing
pavements
limit
traffic
risk
amenities
action
miles per hour
calming
of traffic
visibility
of pedestrians
accident
of road
W
Jumbled Letter
Below is a jumbled letter about the dangerous road shown in the previous diagram. Insert each of the
phrases on road safety, from the previous exercise, into the appropriate sentence.
Alternatively, a ________________________ and railings to enclose nearby pavements
would protect pedestrians and decrease the speed of car equally well.
The ________________________ along South Street peaks between 8.00am and
9.00am, which, of course, coincides with the arrival of school children at St. Mary’s
Junior School on The Marsh.
In reality cars often drive along this road far too fast, at ________________________,
in both directions.
I’m writing to draw your attention to a dangerous ________________________ on
South Street near the junction with The Marsh (see diagram above) in Chip Town.
The ________________________ along South Street is a maximum of 30 miles per
hour.
This whole area is most definitely a ________________________ to pedestrians.
To sum up, some sort of ________________________ scheme here is much needed
and long overdue.
I must express my own, and other parents’, anxiety at the daily sight of crowds of
school children navigating the ________________________ with no protection.
Need I say that any ________________________, at this speed, involving pedestrians,
adults or children, would be horrific and fatal.
These increase the ________________________ in the area, who also find the lack of
traffic crossing facilities alarming.
The safety of Chip Town’s children is at stake and depends upon your
________________________.
The situation is made more hazardous by ________________________, which can’t
cope with more than two abreast.
Other ________________________ include retirement flats and a gift shop.
To make matters even worse, a bend in the road causes ________________________
of oncoming traffic when crossing from east to west.
 Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2003
Taken from the Writing Skills section in www.onestopenglish.com
Language Analysis
I.
Regroup the jumbled sentences into the following topic categories in order to make a coherent
letter of complaint to the Road and Safety Department of Chip Town Council about the ‘trouble
spot’ on South Street.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Introduction
Volume of traffic
Speed of traffic
Other factors
Solution
II. Underline all the phrases which describe place or direction in the letter.
III. Draw an arrow on the diagram to illustrate the places and directions (from Step II).
IV. The author of the letter is dissatisfied with the dangerous road, South Street. She thinks it is
obviously dangerous. Circle all the phrases in the letter which express this emotion and
attitude of the author.
V. Discuss the effect on the reader of each phrase from Step IV with your partner. Does it:
a. emphasise a fact to the reader?
b. show that the point should be obvious to the reader?
c. express the author’s dissatisfaction to the reader?
Mark the letter of the ‘effect’ next to each phrase from the letter: a, b or c.
 Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2003
Taken from the Writing Skills section in www.onestopenglish.com
Language Extension
The main purpose of a letter may be to communicate information to a reader. However,
another important purpose of a letter may be to express the author’s attitude or emotion on the subject
to the reader.
I.
Put the phrases below into categories, depending on what emotion or attitude they convey.
a) dissatisfaction
b) satisfaction
c) apology
I am particularly unhappy about…
I’m sorry that…
d) annoyance
… was most impressive
Unfortunately, …
Thank you so much for…
Happily, … Please accept my apologies for…
…is not what I expected
f) gratitude
I’m sorry to have to say…
I’m very keen to…
I was delighted to see/hear that…
e) desires
Despite my request for…
What would suit me best is…
Even though I previously mentioned…
II. Complete the possible sentences below from different letters by adding a phrase from above.
More than one combination may work.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
m.
n.
The way she remembered all our names ________________.
________________ try your new software.
________________ your colleague behaved abominably.
________________ we arrived in time for dinner.
________________ the flowers.
The design ________________.
________________ the mess we made.
________________ her disability, no ramp was available.
________________ a lecture room with an OHP.
________________ privacy, the papers got to hear about it.
________________ we were too late.
________________you passed your driving test.
________________ we didn’t made the funeral.
________________ the suggested colour scheme for the kitchen.
III. Choose three sentences and decide who wrote the letter to whom and about what.
 Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2003
Taken from the Writing Skills section in www.onestopenglish.com
Writing Practice
You are an office worker and below is a diagram of your office. There are a number of points that you
are not happy about A-H, listed below.
Write a letter to your employer explaining what is unsatisfactory about the layout of your office and
what you think should be done about it. You should:
write an introduction
group your point into topic categories
describe the layout with accurate phrases of place and direction
use phrases which express your dissatisfaction about the office layout
suggest at least one possible solution
•
•
•
•
•
A
H
B
G
C
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
D
E
F
Windows don’t open – no ventilation
Book shelves – cut out natural light
Open plan desks – workers easily distracted
Office used as a corridor
Doors constantly opened and banged shut by through-traffic
Photocopier, franking machine and colour printer – noisy and give off fumes
Desks (your desk) too near coffee area – too noisy and smoky
Coffee area – always messy
Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2003
Taken from the Writing Skills section in www.onestopenglish.com
Answer Key
Diagram: Dangerous Road
traffic calming
speed limit
flow of traffic
volume of traffic
serious risk
stretch of road
40 to 60 miles per hour
swift action
nearby amenities
number of pedestrians
narrow pavements
poor visibility
zebra crossing
car accident
Jumbled Letter and Language Analysis
I’m writing to draw your attention to a dangerous stretch of road on South Street near the junction with
The Marsh (see diagram above) in Chip Town. This whole area is most definitely a serious risk to
pedestrians.
The volume of traffic along South Street peaks between 8.00am and 9.00am, which, of course,
coincides with the arrival of school children at St. Mary’s Junior School on The Marsh. I must express
my own, and other parents’, anxiety at the daily sight of crowds of school children navigating the flow
of traffic with no protection.
The speed limit along South Street is a maximum of 30 miles per hour. In reality cars often drive along
this road far too fast, at 40 to 60 miles per hour, in both directions. Need I say that any car accident, at
this speed, involving pedestrians, adults or children, would be horrific and fatal. Other nearby
amenities include retirement flats and a gift shop. These increase the number of pedestrians in the
area, who also find the lack of traffic crossing facilities alarming. The situation is made more
hazardous by narrow pavements, which can’t cope with more than two abreast. To make matters even
worse, a bend in the road causes poor visibility of oncoming traffic when crossing from east to west.
To sum up, some sort of traffic calming scheme here is much needed and long overdue. Alternatively, a
zebra crossing and railings to enclose nearby pavements would protect pedestrians and decrease the
speed of cars equally well. The safety of Chip Town’s children is at stake and depends upon your
swift action.
Language Analysis (cont’d)
II. Underline all the phrases which describe place or direction in the letter.
on South Street near the junction
along South Street
on The Marsh
drive along
in both directions
nearby amenities
in the area
two abreast
a bend in the road
oncoming traffic
from east to west
nearby pavements
III. Draw an arrow on the diagram to illustrate the places and directions (from Step II).
Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2003
Taken from the Writing Skills section in www.onestopenglish.com
IV. The author of the letter is dissatisfied with the dangerous road, South Street. She thinks it is
obviously dangerous. Circle all the phrases in the letter which express this emotion and
attitude of the author.
I’m writing to draw your attention to (c)
is most definitely (c)
of course (b)
I must express my own, and other parents’, anxiety at (c)
far too fast (a)
who also find the lack of traffic crossing facilities alarming (c)
To make matters even worse (c)
To reiterate (c)
is much needed (a)
long overdue (a)
Language extension
II
Complete the possible sentences below from different letters by adding a phrase from above.
More than one combination may work.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
m.
n.
The way she remembered all our names was most impressive (B)
I’m very keen to try your new software. (E)
I’m sorry to have to say your colleague behaved abominably. (A)
Happily, we arrived in time for dinner. (B)
Thank you so much for the flowers. (F)
The design is not what I expected. (A)
Please accept my apologies for the mess we made. (C)
Even though I previously mentioned her disability, no ramp was available. (D)
What would suit me best is a lecture room with an OHP. (E)
Despite my request for privacy, the papers got to hear about it. (D)
Unfortunately, we were too late. (D)
I was delighted to hear that you passed your driving test. (B)
I’m sorry that we didn’t make the funeral. (C)
I am particularly unhappy about the suggested colour scheme for the kitchen. (A)
Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2003
Taken from the Writing Skills section in www.onestopenglish.com